Smoke exhauster mounting structure

ABSTRACT

A smoke exhauster includes one or more rails for attaching to a supporting surface, and a housing having one or more slots for slidably receiving the rails and for easily and readily and detachably attaching the housing to the rail or the supporting surface. The rail includes an anchoring member, such as a projection extended from the rail, and the housing includes another anchoring member, such as a depression formed in the housing for engaging with the projection and for detachably anchoring the housing to the rail. The rail includes one or more securing panels for securing to the supporting surface with fasteners, and a base panel having a number of apertures for engaging the fasteners.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a smoke exhauster, and more particularly to a smoke exhauster including an improved mounting structure for easily and readily attaching the smoke exhauster to a supporting surface or wall or object and for easily and readily disengaging or detaching the smoke exhauster from the supporting surface or wall or object.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Typical smoke exhausters comprise a box-shaped body or housing having an outlet port for discharging the smoke or exhaust gas to the environment, and one or more motor driven fan devices disposed in the housing for air circulating purposes and for drawing the smoke or exhaust gas out of the housing.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,016 to Bowen, Jr. et al. discloses one of the typical smoke exhausters comprise a box-shaped body or housing for being disposed in a kitchen hood and one or more motor driven fan devices disposed in the housing for drawing the smoke or exhaust gas out of the housing or the kitchen hood.

For stably or solidly attaching or securing the motor driven fan devices in the housing and/or in the kitchen hood, a number of fasteners are required to be threaded or engaged through the motor driven fan devices and then into the housing and/or in the kitchen hood. Normally, after the motor driven fan devices are stably or solidly attached or secured to the housing or the kitchen hood with the fasteners, the motor driven fan devices may no longer be detached or disengaged from the housing or the kitchen hood, such that the motor driven fan devices may not be easily cleaned or washed when required.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,709 to Okamoto et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,885 to Chiang et al. discloses two further typical smoke exhausters each also comprising a box-shaped body or housing required to be attached or secured onto a supporting surface, such as a supporting wall member, a cabinet, or other objects with latches or fasteners.

However, similarly, the typical smoke exhausters also may no longer be detached or disengaged from the supporting surfaces or supporting wall members or cabinets or other objects when it is required to clean or to wash the smoke exhausters.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional smoke exhausters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a smoke exhauster including an improved attaching or mounting structure for easily and readily attaching the smoke exhauster to a supporting surface or wall or object and for easily and readily detaching or disengaging the smoke exhauster from the supporting surface or wall or object.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a smoke exhauster comprising at least one rail for attaching to a supporting surface, and a housing including at least one slot formed therein, the rail is engageable into the slot of the housing for detachably attaching the housing to the rail, and for allowing the housing to be easily and quickly and readily detached or disengaged from the supporting surface for such as cleaning purposes.

The rail includes at least one securing panel for securing to the supporting surface with such as latches or fasteners. The rail include a base panel having a number of apertures formed therein and aligned with the fasteners for allowing the fasteners to be engaged through the base panel to secure the securing panel to the supporting surface.

The rail includes at least one side panel coupled to the base panel and the securing panel. The side panel is inclined relative to the base panel and the securing panel.

The rail includes a first anchoring member for engaging with the housing and for detachably anchoring the housing to the rail. The housing includes a second anchoring member for engaging with the first anchoring member and for detachably anchoring the housing to the rail. The second anchoring member is preferably a depression formed in the housing and the first anchoring member is preferably a projection extended from the rail for engaging with the depression of the housing.

The housing includes an insert having at least one flap for defining the slot of the housing. For example, the insert includes a bottom board and the flap is extended from the bottom board for defining the slot of the housing. The flap is inclined relative to the bottom board.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front plan schematic view of a smoke exhauster in accordance with the present invention, in which a portion of the smoke exhauster has been cut off for showing an inner structure of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial front plan schematic view of the smoke exhauster, in which a portion of the smoke exhauster has also been cut off for showing an inner mounting structure of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 3 is a side plan schematic view of the smoke exhauster, in which a portion of the smoke exhauster has also been cut off for showing an inner mounting structure of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 5 is a partial exploded view similar to FIG. 4, illustrating the other arrangement of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged partial exploded view illustrating the mounting structure of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross sectional view illustrating the further arrangement of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 8 is a further partial cross sectional view similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the further arrangement of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 9 is a further partial exploded view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5, illustrating the further arrangement of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 10 is a still further partial exploded view similar to FIGS. 4, 5 and 9, illustrating the still further arrangement of the smoke exhauster;

FIG. 11 is a partial cross sectional view illustrating the mounting structure of the smoke exhauster as shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial front plan schematic view illustrating the still further arrangement of the mounting structure of the smoke exhauster; and

FIGS. 13, 14, 15 are partial cross sectional views similar to FIG. 11, illustrating the still further arrangements of the mounting structure of the smoke exhauster.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-4, a smoke exhauster 10 in accordance with the present invention comprises a box-shaped body or housing 11 which may optionally include one or more outlet ports 12 formed therein (FIGS. 4, 9, 10) for discharging the smoke or exhaust gas to the environment or to the housing buildings, for example, and may include one or more motor driven fan devices (not shown) disposed in the housing 11 for air circulating purposes and for drawing the smoke or the exhaust gas out of the housing 11. The configuration of the outlet ports 12 and the motor driven fan devices is not related to the present invention and will not be described in further details.

The housing 11 includes one or more, such as two slots 13 formed therein, such as longitudinally formed in the upper portion 14 of the housing 11 (FIGS. 1-8), or formed in the side portions 15 of the housing 11 (FIGS. 9-15), and preferably include a dovetail-shaped structure. For example, the dovetail-shaped slots 13 may be directly formed in the housing 11 (FIGS. 1-2, 5-6, 10), or the housing 11 may include one or more, such as two flaps 16 extended into the respective slots 13 (FIG. 9) for forming or defining the dovetail-shaped structure. It is preferable that the slots 13 are longitudinal or extended from the rear portion toward the front portion of the housing 11.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, an insert 20 may further be provided and includes a bottom board 21 for engaging into each of the slots 13 of the housing 11 with such as fasteners 22, and includes one or more, such as two flaps 23 extended from the bottom board 21 and tilted or inclined relative to the bottom board 21 for forming or defining the dovetail-shaped structure for the respective slots 13 of the housing 11. Unlike the ladder-shaped structure of the slots 13, the slots 13 may also include the other shaped structure, such as the elliptical-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 7, the circular-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 8, the curved or quarter circle-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 12, the rectangular-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 13, the half circle-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 14, the triangular-shaped structure as shown in FIG. 15, or the like.

The smoke exhauster 10 further includes one or more, such as two tracks or rails 30 for attaching or securing to various kinds of supporting surfaces 80 of such as the cabinets as shown in FIGS. 1-3 and 12, the upper walls or ceilings as shown in FIGS. 7-8, or the side walls as shown in FIG. 11, or the like. For example, the tracks or rails 30 each include a base panel 31 and one or more side panels 32 coupled to the base panel 31 and tilted or inclined relative to the base panel 31 for forming a structure similar to that of the slots 13 of the housing 11 and for snugly fitting the tracks or rails 30 in the slots 13 of the housing 11 and for preventing the tracks or rails 30 from being disengaged from the housing 11.

The tracks or rails 30 each include one or more upper or securing panels 33 coupled to the side panels 32 and preferably parallel to the base panel 31 and each having a number of orifices 34 formed therein for receiving fasteners 8 which may solidly secure the tracks or rails 30 to the supporting surfaces 80. The securing panels 33 may also be formed or secured together to form a one-integral structure. For allowing the fasteners 8 to be engaged through the orifices 34 of the securing panels 33, the rails 30 each may further include a number of apertures 35 formed in the base panel 31 and aligned with the orifices 34 of the securing panels 33 respectively (FIGS. 2, 5-8 and 11) for allowing the fasteners 8 to secure the rails 30 to the supporting surfaces 80.

The rails 30 each may further include a latching or anchoring member 36 provided thereon, such as a depression or a projection 36 extended therefrom for engaging into the corresponding bulge or depression 17 of the housing 11 (FIGS. 2, 11) and thus for detachably attaching or anchoring or securing the housing 11 to the rails 30, and for allowing the housing 11 to be selectively disengaged from the rails 30 by force. Alternatively, the bulge or depression 17 may be formed or provided in the insert 20 (FIG. 4) instead of in the housing 11.

It is preferable that the rails 30 include a rear portion 37 having a thickness or height greater than the front portion 38 thereof (FIGS. 3-5) for allowing the housing 11 of the smoke exhauster 10 to be tilted or inclined downwardly and rearwardly for allowing the oil or grease to smoothly flow downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear portion 37 of the housing 11, and also for allowing the housing 11 to be solidly attached or secured to the supporting surfaces 80 with the rails 30, even without the anchoring member 36 of the rails 30 and the bulge or depression 17 of the housing 11.

In operation, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the rails 30 may first be attached or secured to the supporting surfaces 80 (FIGS. 2-3, 7-8, 11-12) with the fasteners 8, and the slots 13 of the housing 11 may then be aligned with the rails 30 for allowing the rails 30 to be easily and readily engaged into the slots 13 of the housing 11 in order to detachably anchoring or securing or attaching the housing 11 to the supporting surfaces 80 with the rails 30. The engagement of the anchoring member 36 of the rails 30 with the corresponding bulge or depression 17 of the housing 11 may further detachably attach or anchor or secure the housing 11 to the rails 30, and for allowing the housing 11 to be selectively disengaged from the rails 30 by force and thus for allowing the housing 11 to be easily disengaged from the supporting surfaces 80 and for such as cleaning or washing purposes.

Alternatively, the tracks or rails 30 of the smoke exhauster 10 may be attached or secured to the housing 11, and the supporting surface 80 may include a corresponding depression formed therein for detachably attaching or receiving or anchoring or securing the rails 30 of the housing 11 and also for allowing the housing 11 to be easily and readily attached or detached or disengaged from the supporting surface and to be selectively disengaged from the supporting surface by force.

Accordingly, the smoke exhauster in accordance with the present invention includes an improved attaching or mounting structure for easily and readily attaching or detaching or disengaging the smoke exhauster from the supporting surface or wall or object.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

1. A smoke exhauster comprising: at least one rail for attaching to a supporting surface, and a housing including at least one slot formed therein, said at least one rail being engageable into said at least one slot of said housing for detachably attaching said housing to said at least one rail.
 2. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one rail includes at least one securing panel for securing to the supporting surface with fasteners.
 3. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one rail includes a base panel having a plurality of apertures formed therein and aligned with said fasteners for allowing said fasteners to be engaged through said base panel to secure said at least one securing panel to the supporting surface.
 4. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one rail includes at least one side panel coupled to said base panel and said at least one securing panel.
 5. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 4, wherein said at least one side panel is inclined relative to said base panel and said at least one securing panel.
 6. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one rail include a first anchoring member for engaging with said housing and for detachably anchoring said housing to said at least one rail.
 7. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 6, wherein said housing includes a second anchoring member for engaging with said first anchoring member and for detachably anchoring said housing to said at least one rail.
 8. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second anchoring member is a depression formed in said housing and said first anchoring member is a projection extended from said at least one rail for engaging with said depression of said housing.
 9. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing includes an insert having at least one flap for defining said at least one slot of said housing.
 10. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 9, wherein said insert includes a bottom board and said at least one flap is extended from said bottom board for defining said at least one slot of said housing.
 11. The smoke exhauster as claimed in claim 10, wherein said at least one flap is inclined relative to said bottom board. 